IFTR 2026 World Congress, Melbourne, Australia

IFTR World Congress 2026

Melbourne, Australia

6 to 10 July 2026 

Launch of Call for Papers: 1 August

Deadline for abstract submissions: 15 November

Notification of acceptance: 30 December

What Theatre Does

 Theatre, dance, and cultural performances all do things – they are, in themselves, ways of doing.

But are we happy to leave it there? Can we afford to?

Climate change, conflict, competition for resources, and the rise of polarising new technologies are leading to complex realignments of global political power and ideology.

This is impacting what kinds of performances are being made in the present, and how we should understand them historically. As academic experts and public thinkers, we are called upon to ask anew what theatre, dance and other cultural performances do, and to present answers that are compelling, persuasive and impactful.  

As a conference, What Theatre Does will not ask participants to frame their existing expertise around a novel theme or topic, but to interrogate and extend the basis on which they make claims about the performance practices they study.  

Which orthodoxies no longer hold? How much of our scholarship is wishful thinking? Are our methods and theories fit for purpose? 

What Theatre Does will ask these hard questions in service of rigour, not critique; imaginatively, not instrumentally.

It will provide an opportunity to celebrate disciplinary expertise, and to share fresh ways of discovering and articulating the distinctive character of performance in the world today. 

You know things about what theatre does that other people don’t. We warmly invite you to join us in Melbourne and tell us more!

Co-conveners:
Sarah Balkin
Lindsay Goss
Margaret Harvey
Paul Rae
Robert Walton 

Contact: paul.rae@unimelb.edu.au

The organisers of IFTR2026 acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the Traditional Owners of the unceded lands on which we work, learn and live. We pay respects to Elders past, present and future, and acknowledge the importance of Indigenous knowledge in the Academy.